Water Corp agrees on irrigation deal with shire

Thu May 21 14:38:00 EST 2009

The Western Australia Water Corporation has backed down on a demand the Augusta-Margaret River Shire pay $30,000 a year to use water from one of the utility's treatment plants to irrigate its parks and gardens.

The corporation currently disposes of the waste water on a pine plantation for free.

The shire says the utility has agreed to charge just $5,500 a year to irrigate the golf course and will provide water for public open spaces for free.

Shire president Steve Harrison says the plan will save 250 million litres of water from being taken from the Margaret River every year.

"It's a very large amount of water and although it's raining today, we've had a very dry autumn," he said.

"If you look at the river now, it's at a very low level and we've had to stop pumping water out of the river some weeks ago."

Meanwhile, the opening up of a new bore near Nannup, in the state's south-west, is set to secure water supplies to a number of nearby towns.

The completion of a pipeline from the bore to Millstream Dam will boost supplies to Bridgetown, Boyup Brook and Hester.

The towns have been on severe water restrictions and the Water Corporation says the dam is currently less than 10 per cent full following the driest April on record.

The corporation's Scott Moorhead says the bore will secure future supplies to the towns.

"It is drought-proof for the next five to 10 years - and hopefully for the next 20," he said.

"We will be continuing to get a variety of sources to make sure our our demand will be drought-proof."